Plain Magic
by lirial89
Summary: Several months the final battle Harry is sick to death of magical Britain, they haven't changed and the way things are going in ten years or less there will be another Dark Lord and why should he die for them again, why should he fight for the sheep who are too stupid to fight for themselves? St Louis here he comes, watch out. Harry Potter / Anita Blake x-over
1. Chapter 1

**Plain Magic**

**Fandom**: - Harry Potter/Anita Blake  
**Pairings**: - Harry/?  
**Set**: - After the end of the Harry Potter series excluding that travesty of an epilogue. And before  
**Warnings**: - Violence, discrimination, bigotry, child abuse, sex, eventual death of a major character, will be slash.  
**Kinks**: - Slight DS themes, rough sex,  
**Disclaimer**: - both Harry Potter and Anita Blake are owned by J K Rowling and Laurel K Hamilton respectively, I'm just playing with the characters. This is a blanket disclaimer for the whole story.

**Summery**: - Several months the final battle Harry is sick to death of magical Britain, they haven't changed and the way things are going in ten years or less there will be another Dark Lord and why should he die for them again, why should he fight for the sheep who are too stupid to fight for themselves? St Louis here he comes, watch out.

**Chapter One – Prayer of the Refugee**

_"I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it." _  
_― Terry Pratchett_

Harry watched silently as the new minister made his acceptance speech to the crowd in Diagon Ally, Dumbledore standing off to the side, his eyes twinkling as he nodded along with what the minister was saying.

Harry's face grew more and more impassive with each sentence the moron uttered. He scanned the rest of the crowd for their impressions of the newest puppet and only found approving and impressed looks, Harry sneered internally at their stupidity, the fucking sheep of the Wizarding world and as they started applauding the dipshit he made his way to the bank, it was time to finalise his plans.

He shifted his black leather shoulder bag on his shoulder and brushed his currently brown hair from his now light brown eyes before Harry headed further down the ally towards Gringotts. Screw them all. Harry shook his head as he passed people talking about the heroes of the war and all he could think was why couldn't they have fought for their freedom themselves? What gave them the right to expect children to fight and die for them?

Harry entered the tall white building nodding to the armed guards as he walked through the front door, he made his way over to the counters and waited in line for several minutes before one of the goblins were free to serve him.

"What do you want human?" he was asked rudely. Harry eyed the surly creature for a moment before speaking.

"My name is Harry Potter, I want to claim any and all vaults and possessions that are available to me," he said voice calm and cool, polite and formal, he had no love for the goblin race but he was glad that he and his 'friends' had never had to break into Gringotts after all, it would have been a complete bitch to get his money if he had made an enemy of the short bastards. The teller's eyes widened and he rang a small bell at his side, another goblin rushed over and the teller whispered some hasty instructions and the younger goblin ducked through a side door and disappeared. Harry raised an eyebrow, feeling mildly unsettled at the exchange.

"If you would wait over there for a moment, Shortsnout will be back to take you to a manager in just a few minutes," the teller told him almost nervously, Harry nodded and made his way over to where the goblin had indicated he wait. He leant against the wall and closed his eyes briefly, the weight of what he was doing weighing down his shoulders before he straightened, shoulders going back into perfect posture and his face setting back into impassive, he shifted his leather satchel so it settled more comfortably on his hip. Harry watched the customers curiously as he waited for his escort to come back, less than five minutes later Shortsnout was back.

Harry followed him down a hallway silently for several minutes, being led into the deeper levels of Gringotts; Harry wondered just what he had inherited to gain this treatment as he was shown into a large office. He looked around, quickly scanning his surroundings before he took the seat that the goblin behind the desk waved him to. The younger goblin bowed and closed the door behind himself when he was dismissed. Harry and the manager regarded each other for a long moment in silence before the manager pushed a pile of parchment over to where Harry was sitting.

"Mr Potter," he said as politely as Harry had ever heard a goblin. "I am Hanglok, you asked for a complete accounting of both what you own and what you can claim, is this correct?" Harry nodded and reached for the documents, he started to scan the top one when Hanglok spoke again. "The documents you have now are the vaults and items you have inherited by virtue of direct bloodline decent, these here-." He continued, shoving another stack of paper over to Harry. "Are the vaults and items you have been willed, gifted or left by people, mostly because of your triumph over the dark lord, a few I believe are more personal but most of the items were left to 'the defeater of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'," he watched Harry flick through the papers, scanning each of the documents before placing it aside, this continued for several minutes, the only noise was the sound of the parchment as it was moved. "And some of these you have earned by right of conquest."

After reading each bit of paper Harry sat back in silence as he contemplated his new wealth. He flicked his eyes over the manager and just regarded him for several seconds before clearing his throat.

"Does the Ministry get notifications when a vault closes?" He asked his most pressing question. Hanglok shook his head with a toothy smile.

"No Mr Potter, the Ministry has nothing to do with Gringotts except when it comes to felons, we're not required to tell them anything and more to the point – we don't want to." Said the goblin who was getting a good feeling about the teen. Harry nodded thoughtfully before he reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment, he unfolded it and looked back at Hanglok.

"I have some questions," he said and Hanglok nodded agreeably. "First, does Gringotts have any branches in other countries, which ones and can I access my vaults from them?"

"Yes we do, we have branches in most European countries, several in America, Australia has several too, New Zealand, several in Canada, a few in Africa – not many but we do have several mines there too, Egypt, several other middle eastern countries including Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Greece has one also along with several others scattered on various islands." Harry was told by the goblin whose smile had grown at the question. "All vaults and the items within them can be accessed and removed by the owner in any branch of our bank across the world." Harry's lips quirked at that and he relaxed slightly running a hand through his shoulder length hair. "Also in many of the other countries we have something called a 'debit card' which can be used in both the magical and muggle worlds,"

"Well that gets rid of half my questions," He said some amusement in his voice. "Ok, next question, can Gringotts organise the sale of the excess properties I have? Including stripping the buildings of any paintings, heirlooms, artefacts, books etcetera and destroying the ones that are cursed or – well overwhelmingly dark, as in harmful not banned by the morons?"

Hanglok nodded thoughtfully and wondered if this wizard would give them back whatever treasures he had that were Goblin made, he decided it wouldn't hurt to ask, he could always rip the teen off if he said no.

"We can, we'd also transfer the items from the properties into your vaults," He eyed Harry as he continued. "Our employees excel in breaking curses, we could uncurse some of the items if that was what you wanted – for a price of course." Harry blinked and he smiled slightly, there was always a price but at least the goblin nation was honest about it.

"Of course there would be a cost, what would Gringotts ask for this service?" he asked his eyes brightening slightly from the dull green they had been before, he had always liked bargaining.

"The return of the goblin made items that you now posses, in return for lifting all the curses on your items that we can and destroying the ones that we can't." Harry thought about the offer for a long minute before a thought struck him.

"I can agree to that but -." Harry started and Hanglok's eyes narrowed slightly. "There is one item I would like to keep for my lifetime, I'd will it back to Gringotts at my death but I would prefer to keep hold of it until then,"

Hanglok watched the boy and smiled inwardly as the teen negotiated, an idiot the wizard was not – good it would serve him well in his upcoming years. "What item?" he said shortly, it wouldn't do to act soft but he wouldn't scare the boy off, not yet any way.

Harry smiled slightly, not showing teeth (If any creature was born with that many pointed and sharp teeth then it was a predator and probably an effective one, so showing teeth could be shown as an act of aggression and Harry wasn't stupid, he had enough enemies already he wasn't going to piss off the people who controlled his bank accounts. Even if he didn't like them in general.) and explained to the manager.

"The sword of Gryffindor, it's saved my life several times and knowing my luck I'll need it again," he said pushing his hair back and deliberately displaying his empty hands in a casual position.

Hanglok thought about it for a minute, it was actually a generous offer and the boy did say that after his death it would be returned to them, he finally nodded telling Harry that the offer was acceptable. Harry though about his next question and glanced at his list before he looked back to Hanglok.

"Excellent. How long will it take to strip the houses? And do I need to sign anything to get the houses on the market?"

"Well Mr Potter, we can empty all the houses within a fortnight and to sell them we need you to sign-." Hanglok moved over to a filing cabinet and opened the second draw down, rifling through it quickly and pulled out a form, he handed it to Harry after sitting back down. "-this, and then we can do the rest, Gringotts will of course take six point five percent of the sale price of each of the buildings and when sold the money will be transferred into you personal vault. Do you have any other questions?"

The black haired teen thought about it and shook his head, the rest could wait until he was out of the country, Harry paused then opened his mouth. "One last question, can I open a new vault under a different name and get everything moved to that one?" Hanglok hesitated for a moment then spoke.

"Once you have an established new identity we can do that but until then we cannot allow vaults under false names," Harry nodded his understanding, so that had to wait but he could still make his money more secure.

"Ok, can I block all access to my vaults except for myself? And can I have a control question to access them?" he asked, Hanglok nodded but Harry could tell he was confused by the question so he elaborated. "I'm concerned about Polyjuice or Metamorphs pretending to be me, and I know that at least one other person has accessed my vaults without asking, I'd rather not have that happen again," Harry told him.

"Ah, I understand, what question would you like to use?" Harry though about it for several moments, thinking of questions and people who'd know the answers before deciding on something he had never discussed with any one in the magical world.

"The question is 'What's your favourite song by Shinedown?' and the answer is 'Burning Bright', is that ok?" He asked and was given an affirmative answer, Harry smiled relieved that things had been going well so far. He stood and glanced down at the papers. "Can I take these with me? Oh and don't tell whoever tries to access the account the question, just ask them for both the question and the answer, anyone who can't answer both charge them with attempted theft."

Hanglok nodded holding out a hand to shake, another test – most wizards wouldn't even think about shaking hands with a being that they deemed so inferior but Harry just reached out and shook before gathering up the papers and placing them in his bag. Harry's eyes swept over the room again and returned to the manager.

"Thankyou for answering my questions," he said as Hanglok showed him to the door and his guide to the main halls of the bank. Hanglok with a toothy grin nodded.

"No, Mr Potter, thankyou," He told the young human. "It's not often we get to piss Dumbledore off, and this? – this will ruin many of his plans," he said showing his teeth off to the full extent. "May I make a suggestion? Go to the post office and get one of their post boxes, they can give you more details but I believe that having one would be in your best interests." Harry nodded thoughtfully and followed his guide back through the corridors.

"Do you have any other business here today Mr Potter?" Harry was asked and he nodded.

"Yes, I need to get some money from my trust vault and exchange some for muggle money," With that Harry was escorted down to his vault, where he gathered up a reasonable amount of galleons into his money pouch and exchanged some of it back on the banks main floor for a sizable wad off cash which both of which went into his bag, making him glad once again that he had a feather-light charm on the bag.

Well, he might not like the Goblin race but they were damned efficient.

Harry left the bank with a nod to the guards and with his head held high he followed the twists and turns of Diagon Ally to where the post office sat, owls coming and going from the high windows. Harry felt his heart clench as he watched them for a moment, the loss of his beloved friend and pet Hedwig still hurt even after nearly a year.

He entered the business with an impassive face and a confident air; he looked around the store quickly before he moved to the front counter where a man only a few years older than him was filling out paperwork. He looked up and smiled politely at Harry who mimicked the fake expression.

"Welcome to the Post Office, owl can I help you today?" Harry's lips quirked just slightly at the memorised greeting and kept his eyes slightly to the side of the young man, he was taking no chances, and no-one was going to read his mind again.

"Hi, I was talking to a – friend and he mentioned something about post boxes. Could you explain what they are?" Harry asked.

"Sure," He said, he turned and grabbed a box off one of the shelves, it was a bit bigger than a shoe box but not as deep, made of a deep rich reddish wood. He placed it on the counter. "This is the deluxe model, the way these boxes work is that you have a box that corresponds with one here, letters get sent to you but come here where we place them in your box. The letters that are placed in your box here get transported through to the box in your possession, the deluxe model strips all charms, hexes and curses from the letters placed in the box and gives you a summery of what was sent written on the envelope that the spelled object is in." he pointed at a silver medallion imbedded in the lid of the wooden box. "This glows when a letter comes through and will continue to glow until you take the letters out. To send a letter back you place it in your box, and it gets transferred to us and we send it with one of our owls. For the deluxe model you pay a yearly fee of 100 galleons," Harry blinked shocked at the price, you could by a decent broom with that amount but for what you were getting it seemed to be a good deal.

"So if I had one of these, would it work in a different country? I plan to go travelling for the next year or so," Harry told him with a tilt of his head.

The store clerk nodded brightening at that. "Yeah, but only the deluxe models, the others don't have enough spells on them to work out of the country," Harry nodded thoughtfully then thought of something else.

"What about packages? How do they get sent through?"

"Oh! That's easy, there's an automatic shrinking charm – once the package is lowered into the box, it's shrunk into a size that fits into the box and when you take it out of your box it regains its original size." He said cheerfully and pointed at the lid. "Oh, and when you send something back through your box to here you need to shut the lid for it to go through. Do you have any other questions?"

Harry double checked about tracking charms and what would happen to charmed items when they went through the box before picking a box made of a deep polished brown oak with a silver crescent moon medallion. Harry had to tell the older man who he was to get the box tied to his name but everything happened quite quickly after that and with minimal gushing.

Harry left the Post Office with his new post box slipped into his bag and quickly made his way out of the heaviest foot traffic and wandered down the ally looking around with jaded eyes, he wished faintly that he was more comfortable with magical Britain but he wasn't, he didn't like the rampant prejudice or the sheer stupidity of the majority of the wizards that he had met.

He shook his head and smiled bitterly as he murmured one of his favourite quotes from Albert Einstein. "Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." He snorted quietly; any wizard raised in this world wouldn't have a clue about who that was. Harry was about to leave the ally when a thought came to him and he turned around and started down the street, eyes scanning the people around him as he moved purposely through the crowd until he came to a large building. Harry regarded the building with a faint sneer before he entered, schooling his face into his customary neutrality.

Harry glanced around the front room and made his way over to the receptionist, he smiled at her and did his best to hold back his sigh of annoyance at her blatant once over.

"Hi, I'd like to get a years subscription of the paper, paid for right now if possible," Harry told her and she nodded brightly, she grabbed a form off the side of her desk and started to fill it out.

"So the price for the whole year, if you pay up front is 43 galleons and 7 sickles, if you pay for each individual paper the overall cost is 3 galleons more," She said and Harry nodded his understanding and pulled out his money pouch, said the amount clearly and upended it onto her desk. She counted it quickly and wrote him a receipt. "Ok, so I just need your name and your paper will be delivered tomorrow," Harry smiled at her and leaned down to whisper.

"Harry Potter," he said quietly and she gasped. "Shh, I'm in disguise," he told her and she nodded glancing over her shoulder before looking back at him.

"I – Could I get your autograph? I promise I won't tell anyone you're here," she asked and Harry nodded, she passed over a piece of parchment. "My name is Rebecca Jones, thank you for this," Harry signed the parchment (To Rebecca Jones, may your life be peaceful and full of joy, Harry Potter) as she finished the form. Rebecca smiled at the autograph then back at Harry who smiled back at her. After exchanging pleasantries Harry left the building quickly and headed back to the pub. Time to leave the British Magical world.

He wouldn't have bothered with getting the Daily Prophet but knowing how Britain would react to him disappearing could be important.

With a sigh Harry made his way out of the ally and back through the Leaky Cauldron, he wandered down the street until he got to a phone booth that still had the phone attached to it, he pulled the business card out of a side pocket of his bag and dialled the number on it, it rang twice before someone picked up.

"Hello, this is the American Embassy, how can I help you to day?" said a polite female voice and Harry straightened and braced himself for what he was about to do.

"Hi, I'm Harry Potter, I'm calling to speak to Mr Field," he said his heart thumping in his chest as he tried to keep his breathing calm.

"Is he expecting your call?" she asked him with a reserved tone.

"Not today but he was expecting one from me within the next two weeks and I didn't want to keep him guessing about my answer," he explained trying to keep his nerves out of his voice. She hummed for a moment before she placed him on hold for a minute; Harry stuffed a few more coins into the phone box while waiting. Her voice came back on the line this time with much more respect in her voice.

"I'll put you through right now Mr Potter, have a nice day," she said and Harry thanked her for her help. It was merely seconds before a cheerful male voice came through the line.

"Harry! I wasn't expecting your call for at least a week, is everything ok?" There was genuine concern in his voice; it made Harry smile through his nerves.

"Everything's fine, I've just made up my mind and well – I didn't see a point in waiting,"

"Oh? And what's your discission?" Harry took a steading breath and breathed out before he answered.

"Yes," He said voice shaking slightly. "My answer is yes." Harry felt tension draining out of him with those words and he slumped against one of the plastic walls of the booth.

There was a stunned silence for a moment then the older man laughed appreciably and Harry could hear the chair creak as if he was shifting in his seat. "Well then Harry, when you like to leave?"

End chapter one


	2. Hanging By A Moment

Chapter Two - Hanging By A Moment

Summary: Arriving in America

Notes: AN – Harry's birth year has now been changed to '93 because I like putting in modern tech, so he's now 19 in 2012

Chapter Text

**Chapter Two – Hanging By A Moment**

See disclaimer in chapter one

"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."  
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Harry looked around the LAX terminal with a slight smile as he waited in line for customs to let him through into the main part of the airport, after the long flight his jeans were slightly uncomfortable around his waist but his t-shirt and the light grey hoodie while wrinkled were comfortable. Harry was almost in shock it was only nine am but the airport was still packed full of people.

He moved over to the customs desk and passed his bag over to be scanned, he wasn't worried about any of the magical items in his bag being detected there was a warded compartment on the side of his leather satchel that held everything magical, including his wand and the invisibility cloak, the rest of his bag held a DS with a couple of games, an i-Pod, a notebook and pen and a book (Good Omens by Terry Pratchett) as well as a bottle of water, his wallet and his shiny new passport, the one that showed duel citizenship.

The customs officer looked through his passport, noting the multiple stamps in it (all faked by the American Embassy in England) and stamping it himself before he glanced through the rest of Harry's bag, eyeing his book for a moment.

"Any good?" he asked and Harry nodded with a grin.

"Yeah, its pretty good, there's this one quote in it that's awesome it's 'God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.'" He told him and the customs agent laughed, they exchanged grins and he handed Harry his bag back, Harry swung it onto his shoulder again and tucked his passport back into the main bag even as he pulled out his water bottle.

"Enjoy America Mr Black," Harry was told and he made his way out of the security area and into the main area of the airport. Harry took a mouthful of water and kept a tight grip on his bag, he kept his eyes scanning for the magical section.

Catching sight of the money exchange he wandered in and traded his pounds into dollars, he made a note of the amount, tucked it into his wallet and his wallet back into his bag and zipped the top shut before he swung the flap back over the front of the bag and in doing so raised the anti-theft wards. Harry shifted the strap of the bag so it now crossed over his chest and headed back into the main area to find the magical section.

After wandering around for nearly half an hour he finally spotted one shop that was completely ignored by everyone else, also the sign across the front window was a pretty big hint that it was magical, it even sparkled as the words changed colours.

_**'Come In, Where Magic Happens!'**_

Harry grinned at that and headed into the shop, once inside he did his customary quick scan and entered properly, letting the door close behind him as he walked in looking at shelves and the little knickknacks on them before he headed to front counter where a girl roughly his age was wearing an open over robe of a bright violet shot through with silver threads over simple black pants and a black halter top. She was wearing a pentagram and a pointy conical hat. Harry just grinned and hoped that she could point him in the right direction. She was reading what looked to be a text book and making notes on a note pad next to the book on the counter, she looked up and smiled with a cheeky look in her eyes.

"Hi, welcome to the Magical Journey, what can I do for you?" she said looking him up and down with a playful leer and Harry laughed at that.

"Hey, I'm Luka, I just got here from England and I was wondering if you could tell me how to get to the nearest Gringotts," he told her and she nodded letting the leer fade into a smile. She moved out from behind the counter and walked over to one of the side shelves and got a book off the middle shelf, she passed it to Harry who looked at the title.

**What You Need To Know To Survive In America**

"This is what you need, I can tell you the basics but honestly? I have a copy of this in my bag 'cause its so helpful," she said and pulled another book off the shelf and handed it to him. "Also if you can afford to get this one too, I'd get it, this one goes into all the details of what is legal to do in front of the mundanes and what you can expect from the vampires, it also has wards in it for vampires, weres and the fay." She said tapping the other book she'd just handed him. "This is just as useful as that one, together they're either 15 galleons or if you have mundane money it'd be $100 dollars," Harry nodded thoughtfully and pulled out his wallet, he handed over two fifty dollar bills and looked at the second book she'd passed to him.

**Vampires, Shifters and Mundanes Oh My,  
A Guide to Legal Safety Measures,**

She gave him a copy of his recept and he flicked through the first book even as she spoke again. "So now that you've brought these I'll show you to our floo connection, it the quickest way to Gringotts but not all shops have a connection to the network so it's a good idea to know how to find your way back to the magical areas if you need too," She said and Harry followed her through the curtained off doorway and saw the open fire place. "Just say Gringotts and it'll take you to the nearest bank," Harry nodded and grinned at her taking the pinch of floo powder and tossing it in the cold flames before he called out the name of the bank and stepped into the fire.

Harry stepped out of the fire place and moved over to the line for the counters giving himself a quick tap with his wand to get rid of the ash from his clothes. He waited patiently for his turn in front of the goblin tellers adjusting his bag slightly and taking another drink of water from his now nearly empty bottle.

Harry looked around the bank noting the similarities between the LA branch and the one in England, it was still done in white marble but instead of torches for light and candles it used what looked to be electrical lights, and a general more modern feel to it. Harry liked it.

It took almost fifteen minutes for the line in front of him to disappear, during that time he people watched. He'd always watched the people around him ever since he could remember, making up stories about them and their lives, watched them for violence or scorn, people were interesting, they obsessed, loved, hated, were both kind and cruel. They fascinated Harry with how they changed in a blink of an eye.

When his turn came at the counter he handed over a pre-written note that said –

'My name is Harry Potter, I'd like to speak to a manager please.'

The goblin looked up from the note and studied Harry who just looked back at him before giving a nod and barking something in Gobbledegook and sending a young goblin running out of a side door giving Harry a sense of daja'vu. The teller sneered at him and pointed to a waiting area, telling the young wizard to wait there.

Roughly twenty minutes later (Harry had indulged in his people watching again) a goblin came to fetch him and Harry followed him down several corridors to a modest office. There was a goblin sitting behind a large wooden desk and he waved Harry into one of the seats opposite him.

"You are Harry Potter?" the goblin barked the question at him and Harry nodded. "If you are who you say you are then you know what has to be confirmed before I will discuss anything else about your accounts," Harry was told in a brisk tone.

"The question is 'What's my favourite Shinedown song' and the answer is 'Burning Bright'." The goblin nodded and made a note on a piece of paper (that was different, in England they had only used parchment) before looking back at Harry, just looking at him silently for a moment before nodding sharply and Harry got the feeling that he'd just passed a test, what test he didn't know but still, passing a test was a good thing.

"Very well Mr Potter, I am Orac, what can I do for you today?" Harry smiled at that with a closed mouth.

"I've established a new identity and I want everything removed from my vaults into a new one under my new name. I want one vault with money in it and one for objects, can you do this for me?" he asked and Orac nodded in understanding. "I also need a debit card in my new name and I'll need help buying a house soon, I'm not sure where yet but I thought letting you know I'll need help now is better than springing it on you later." Harry explained to Orac who nodded and pulled out a form from one of his draws.

"Easily done, what name are you using now and what proof do you have that this is an established identity?" he asked and Harry fished out his wallet and his passport from his bag, handing over the passport while he pulled out his photo I.D card from his wallet and passed that over too. "How did you get these?" Harry hesitated before answering, it wouldn't hurt to answer.

"The American Ministry made me an offer after the war finished; they would provide me with a new identity and American citizenship if I swore an oath not to knowingly or willingly attack the American government for as long as I was a citizen. I said yes two days ago, I chose my new name two hours after I said yes and was on a plane twelve hours after that. I'm officially an American citizen, I have a fake history in my head, and England can't touch me here," he told the goblin who was watching intently for any lies.

"Confirm your new name for me and your new date of birth," Orac said neutrally with a sneer, Harry felt like rolling his eyes, goblins were so rude.

"Luka Daniel Black, 15th of August 1993," Orac filled out something on the form and then stamped it, it glowed blue for a second then a wooden box that reminded Harry of his post box glowed a corresponding blue and Orac opened it. He pulled out two cards and pushed them over to Harry who picked them up. One was a black card with golden letter on it with the words Gringotts and Harry's name and the usual bank details, the other was a sea green with silver letters with the same details.

"The black one is to any Muggle a credit card, no limit. The green one is your debit card, at the end of each month the amount spent using these will be deducted from your account. The pin number for the debit card is 'xxxx' and you sign for the credit card, sign the back of each of these and place a drop of blood on the card to bind them to you so that no one else can use them and you should be fine." Harry was told briskly. "Your accounts will be organised within an hour and your cards will work now. We'll send you monthly statements, I suggest you get a post box tied to each name, it will make things much easier for you and minimise the chances of tracking you,"

Harry nodded in agreement. "I have one in my original name, where would I get one here?"

"There is a post office just down the street, simply exit the bank and roughly three hundred metres on the left hand side you'll find it." Harry gathered up his I.D. and bank cards, slotting them into empty places in his wallet. He then put the leather wallet and his passport back into his bag and stood when the account manager did. "Contact us when you're ready to buy a house, Mr. Black we'll take care of the details," Harry shook hands with Orac and was quickly shown out of the bank.

Harry felt slightly dizzy at the speed everything was happening at but couldn't complain about how efficient the Americans and the goblins were. As he made his way down the stairs he looked around at his first sight of magical America, there were people in normal clothes, in robes and various combinations of both. Wizards and witches were walking down the street with goblins, veela, and other species, Harry felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, already America was looking far better than Britain.

He paused for a second at the bottom of the steps as a thought crossed his mind; he wasn't sure where he was exactly. He blinked at that and sheepishly rubbed a hand through his hair, he looked around for some one to ask but decided to wait until he got to the post office. Harry quickly headed down the street, trying his best not to bump into anyone, it didn't take long to get to the post office from the bank but Harry enjoyed the heat and the sights around him as he walked.

Looking at the building that housed the post office he was struck at how different it was too its British counterpart, it was modern and while birds still flew in and out of the upper floors Harry could see that they weren't all owls, in fact there were very few owls. Harry walked into the building and headed over to organise a new post box. He organised to get another deluxe model this time with the medallion on the cover being a silver Chinese dragon; it was made of a beautiful red coloured wood polished to a deep shine.

Harry had also asked about where he was exactly and was told that he was on the island colony of Roanoke, it was one of the only purely magical areas in the United States of America. He had asked about the newspapers and was told that there were several, Harry decided to wait until he was more aware of differences of the papers before he chose to get a subscription. After wandering around the streets for just over an hour he found a shopping mall and wandered in.

He was amazed at how different everything was it was brightly lit with a mix of electrical lights and magical globes of light, Harry just stood and stared for long moments before moving forward and looking through the stores. He wandered for a while before he found a clothing shop that sold t-shirts with sayings on them; Harry wandered around looking at various colours and sayings.

Harry gathered up every top that caught his eye and laid them over his arm, he kept looking for anything else that caught his eye. After asking the teenage boy manning the register if he could put the shirts on the counter Harry went to try on jeans. He chose three in black, three in dark blue and one in a dark forest green, Harry brought them up to the counter and waited for the younger teen to ring up his purchases, swiping his card through the machine to pay for the clothes. Once they were bagged up Harry shrunk the bags then stored them in his shoulder bag.

Every shop that caught his eye he entered, buying things along the way as he made his way through the shopping centre. A jewellery store caught his eye and he wandered in, Harry looked around seeing lots of shiny things but they were all very girly, towards the back of the store Harry noticed more manly items. A silver chain with a pendant on it caught his eye; the black stone was an oval shape about 3cm long and 2cm wide with a silver silhouette on it of a dragon in flight. Harry tilted his head as he examined the necklace and was shocked when bright colours suddenly appeared in the stone, bright red, orange and blue shone up from the stone and Harry smiled in delight.

A man in a sharp suit approached Harry, a polite expression of neutrality on his blandly handsome face. "Can I help you sir?" he asked Harry, just a hint of distain in his voice. Harry was used to people judging him and just ignored his tone, fuck him, he wanted the necklace.

"Yes," Harry said curtly. "Tell me about that necklace," he pointed into the display case to the one he wanted and watched the other man's eyes dip down to look at it briefly then back to Harry.

"One of our more expensive items, it's a black opal imported from Australia, the stone is flawless and shows the signature colours across its surface. The chain is platinum, as is the backing on the stone itself and the silhouette on the surface," he told Harry looking him up and down. "I'm afraid that it may be out of your price range, sir," Harry paused and looked at the man and kept his face blank with effort.

"Tell me sir," his tone slightly mocking, making the older man stiffen in annoyance at Harry's distain. "Do you work on commission?"

The man nodded crisply, a faint sneer on his face. "Yes we do," Harry smiled politely at that and tilted his head slightly to the side before nodding.

"Great," Harry told him, the smile still on his face. "Get someone else to serve me," he paused thought for a second then added, "Please," to his order, the older man who Harry guessed to be about 30 turned on his heel and marched over to a girl who looked a couple years older than Harry, she cowered slightly from him and quickly made her way over to Harry a weak smile on her face.

"Hi, I'm Sophia, I'll be serving you today, how can I help you?" she asked brushing back a chestnut lock of hair off her face.

"I'm Luka," Harry told her and pointed to the pendant he wanted. "I want that, tell me what I need to know about it," he said watching as she composed herself.

"Well its 156 galleons and 16 sickles or $2350.00, it's a flawless imported opal from Australia, the chain, backing and the dragon are all pure platinum. It's charmed to be unbreakable, there are anti-theft spells on it so the owner is the only one who can wear it and it has comfort charms on both the chain and pendant," she told him and Harry nodded thoughtfully, very useful.

"Excellent," Harry said brightly, "I'll buy it," A shocked look crossing her face before a small smile crossed her lips. "And I need a watch too, what do you recommend? I don't want something too – shiny though," Sophia nodded pulling out a tray of watches and placing them on the counter in front of him. Harry looked at the ones that were practically dripping gems and shook his head. "Do people actually wear them?" he asked gesturing to the offending ones and Sophia laughed lightly.

"Only those with money but no taste," she said and Harry grinned. "Ok, so these are the top of the line range we have," She told him and pointed to several different watches. "So these are platinum like your necklace, and apart from telling the time they're charmed to be unbreakable too, anti-theft spells, dirt repelling charms, comfort charms on all of them and the face of these three isn't glass but a thin disk of diamond. Why don't you try on the ones you like?" she said with a smile. "See which looks the best," Harry nodded and started trying watches on, after trying on the five he liked best he retried the fourth, liking the way it felt on his wrist. "That one? It's made in Switzerland, so it keeps perfect time, platinum, diamond cover and its 190 galleons or $2850.00," Harry grinned and he gestured to the cash register.

"I'll get them both, thanks," She blinked and smiled back at him with near glee.

"It's my lucky day," she told him. "It's my last day here, we get a 10% commission on everything we sell on top of our hourly rates, this sale – it gets me a bonus of $520," she said with a grin, Harry grinned back and bowed slightly.

"I'm glad we both got what we wanted," Harry said flicking his gaze over to the now sour looking man who was pointedly not looking at them. Harry handed over his card as she rang up the purchases and when she pulled out a bag he shook his head. "I'll just wear them, if that's ok?"

She nodded and handed over the boxes containing his new things, Harry opened the first one and settled the watch on his left wrist before he put the necklace on, it sat just below the base of his throat. Harry took back his card and slipped it back into place, he gathered up both boxes, his receipt and wallet and placed them back into his bag, settling it in place at the small of his back before leaving the store. He couldn't resist a smirk towards the sulking suit but he did restrain himself from sticking out his tongue at the man.

Harry spent another hour and a half wandering and buying things that interested him, he piled everything he brought into his bag, glad that he had spelled it too be bottomless and weightless. Harry stumbled into the food court and checked his watch for the time, it said 1.45 and he blinked at it in shock. Harry hadn't realised that so much time had passed since he'd landed that morning, he checked various food vendors before he chose what he wanted for lunch, picking a burger and chips (fries) with a chilled butterbeer he took a seat at one of the empty tables and pulled out his book to read for a bit.

After lunch Harry went back to exploring the mall, wandering from one store to another before he found an electronics shop called 'MagiTech', Harry thought it was an unimaginative name but couldn't fault them on its accuracy. Once inside the store Harry couldn't help but smirk at the thought of what the conservative purebloods in England would say if they could see this place.

Harry looked at everything on the shelves, focusing on the laptop computers, he'd wanted a computer ever since he was a kid and Dudley refused let him touch his. But he was lost, completely lost, Harry had no idea which one was the best model for him or about any extras he'd need.

One of the store helpers came over and helped him pick a computer that wasn't too complicated as well as several other items, all of which went into his bag, including a cell phone that was on the main magical network, the laptop also had a permanent connection to the internet – it was one of the bonuses for buying a magical computer. Once he finished with MagiTech it was almost 4.30pm and the jetlag was getting to him, Harry headed off to hotel that the salesperson had told him about.

The hotel was called 'Sunset Ridge', it was a four star magical hotel, the equivalent of a muggle five star hotel, Harry's suite was on one of the top floors. One of the bellhops showed him up to his room and was happy to give Harry the lay out of the hotel. He told Harry when the restaurant opened and how to get to the swimming pool and gym, and was just very helpful in general.

"Thanks," Harry said with a bright but tired grin, he pulled out his wallet and passed the older boy a fifty dollar bill. He entered the room and looked around, Harry felt a small smirk cross his face, just the sitting room of the suite was bigger than the Dursley's living room and dining room. It was beautiful, done in elegant shades of browns and greens, Harry wandered over to where the basic kitchen was and looked through the fridge (milk, bottled water), in the small cupboards (Sugar, tea – several types, and three types of coffee). There was an electric kettle next to the sink and in the cupboard above that were cups and glasses as well as a several small plates. Harry checked out the rest of the suite and was very impressed by what he saw.

He resisted the urge to just throw himself on the king-sized bed; Harry knew that the second that his head hit the bed, he'd be out like a light. He unpacked his bag, clothes in one pile and other stuff in another pile. He grabbed one of his new t-shirts and a pair of loose sleep pants and headed into the bathroom for a shower.

When Harry woke again he blearily looked around, confused about where he was before the events from earlier that day caught up with him and he smiled and stretched lazily on the big bed. Harry scrubbed a hand over his eyes and felt a true surge off gratitude for the American agent Jonas Field for not only giving him his new life and identity but for the potion that fixed his eyes too.

Harry checked his watch noting the time 10.23, he sat up and peered out one of the windows, judging by the dark sky and the city lights he could see he guessed that it was night. With a groan he rolled out of the bed and headed to where the cordless phone sat on its cradle, he picked it up and the menu sitting next to it, he was famished.

After glancing at the menu and phoning in his order he stumbled into the bathroom for another quick shower. He was out of the shower and dressed back into his sleep clothes in fifteen minutes. Harry couldn't help smiling as he looked out of his window and saw the towers of lights before him, he felt truly free for the first time in his life. He was out of England, out from under Dumbledore's thumb, away from the prying eyes of the sheeple of Brittan and away from his ex-friends and their easy betrayal of his secrets.

He was _free_.


End file.
